With all the recent and continuing rumors regarding a potential trade of Thad Young as part of a larger deal involving Kevin Love, and all the really great commentary on this site over the past couple days, I thought it would be good to put all the pluses and minuses into a simple bullet format:
Thad is the only active veteran presence on a really young team, providing experience and leadership to a group that could use that kind of stabilizing force
Thad plays multiple positions easily, allowing the Sixers to go large or small as they choose, allowing for lineup flexibility
Thad is nothing but a positive influence via his consistent high energy effort
Thad has a reasonable contract given his production - 17 and 6 last season
Thad is still relatively Young, not yet 27, and when playing at the SF fits in well with the long athletic model upon which this team is being built
Thad is able to generate offense without a lot of plays or isolation being called his way
Thad's game also fits well with the running style of offense this team is using under Brett Brown
Thad has some issues on defense when playing the PF spot, but typically creates matchup issues on the other end when playing larger four men
Thad has proven to be productive both as a starter and off the bench
Thad can opt out of his contract at the end of this season if he so chooses
So what is Thad's value around the league?
To a contender at the deadline, he could be a missing rotation piece that tips the scales in a playoff series or two.
To Minnesota, and Cleveland by default in a three team deal, his value is enhanced to the Cavaliers if he is a required piece to land Kevin Love, while his value to the Wolves is to help preserve the present somewhat while they build to the future with Wiggins. Therefore, by definition, we should be able to get something out of both teams in the deal, else his value to the Sixers would be sufficient to make us pass on the deal. Given the Sixers strategy, that means we should get a young player out of the deal, and a pick. Or else pass - we don't need to help the Cavs put together their big three without coming out ahead. Given all the assets being discussed, I believe fair value is Waiters and a first, or Bennett and a second. With our cap situation already bordering on ridiculous, there is no way we can just take picks - we have to take back salary in the form of one or more players. Given that we want to provide minutes to all our young guys, it would be hard to justify taking back more than two players. So let's say Waiters and a first, plus a 2nd player on a short deal. Or Bennett and a second plus the same extra guy.